Microprocessors' Global Sales Double

April 10, 1995|Journal of Commerce

SAN FRANCISCO — Sounding another echo to the consumer electronics boom, worldwide sales of 16and 32-bit microprocessors have doubled in the past two years to $11 billion, according to a leading industry group.

Last year, microprocessor sales totaled $10.7 billion, a 28.6 percent gain over $8.3 billion the previous year. Further, 1993 sales registered a 59.1 percent increase over 1992 sales of $5.2 billion, according to figures just released by the Semiconductor Industry Association in San Jose, Calif.

"When you are talking microprocessors, the real volume is not in personal computers, the real volume is what you buy out of the Sears catalog," said Jim Turley, senior editor of the Microprocessor Report newsletter in Sebastopol, Calif.

"Computer sales get all the glamour but consume just 1 percent of the total chip production," he said. "More people have the disposable income to purchase video games than fully loaded PCs."

According to SIA's recent report, sales figures for embedded microprocessors, like those used in laser printers, totaled 54.5 million units in 1994, a 3.4 percent increase over the previous year's total of 52.7 million units. The 1993 figure was 25 percent higher than the 42.1 million units purchased in 1992.